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Is There A Commission Free Forex Broker For Ninja?
I'm after a little advice. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
I'm currently with MBT and run Ninja for my automated strategies. These are mostly 15 min timeseries, trading a few times a week and use limit orders either one or both sides so I cut down on commissions. All very helpful to the bottom line.
I've developed a scalper strategy that works well on the 3 min and takes 30 or so trades /day per pair. This strategy does not use any limits and the MBT commissions take a painfully large bit from the profit.
I know that MBT and Oanda run commission free with MetaTrader 4 automation, but I am loathed to run two platforms if I can help it - so does anyone know a (preferably ECN) broker that's NT compatible with commission free trading?
Thanks again for any info
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Thanks Mike. Yes there is the entry fee, I suppose what I am after is feedback from others running scalping strategies that have managed to get these as low as possible. The difference between spreads for MBT comparing the commission free and paid for limits model are available below.
A quick comparison and the spreads are more on the commission free of 0.1-0.3 pips on the most popular pairs. But this fluctuates and can be less than the paid for limits version.
I can make a decision on how to proceed after crunching some numbers from live trades, but looks like switching to free commission will increase returns significantly in my case.
I have not used LMAX, are you suggesting hooking up NT to LMAX via their API?
And for anyone else in a similar situation, I have just come off the phone with MBT support who tell me their commission free EXN model is in the process of being integrated to their Desktop Pro software (which NT hooks into). Will be no sooner than 3 months, so looking at August 2012.
Not to upset anyone, but I think if you are this considered about commissions or slippage, it is time to move up to futures.
Forex is an excellent learning vehicle. The position sizing is far superior to that of futures or equities. The entry barrier is very low. But it is not an ideal model when it comes to efficiency of low cost commission + zero to minimal slippage. Futures is better once you start trading big enough.
So I would encourage you to not spend a huge amount of time on this in the forex world. Better to find a reputable firm, get your experience built up, and then if you start increasing your transactions and size consider looking at futures.
Likewise, for new traders - I recommend against futures, and instead recommend they start with forex.
Thanks Mike, yes I had already (briefly) considered futures as the transaction costs would be less, but had not worked up a detailed scenario mainly due I suppose to being a blinkered forex trader!
Thanks for the nudge, I think I will demo trade the E7 with MBT and make a comparison.
Isn't E7 futures? That's the half sized 6E (Euro), yes? A better comparison to micro spot forex would be the micro CME FX futures, M6E at $1.25/tick.
When trading micro futures, I always encourage you to chart the full sized contract (6E) but trade the micro. Same applies to oil, chart CL but trade QM -- until you are ready to increase size to the full sized contract.
Thanks for the ongoing advice. So you are saying to consider running the (automated) strategy off a E6 chart and submit orders for the micro contract? I am assuming that prices will be the same but better liquidity on the full size contract ensures comprehensive price data.
I'll search through this and other forums to gauge experiences others have had of the M6E, as I believe volumes can be thin and that may impact this particular strategy where average trade is 6 pips.